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Over the past 40 years, the college has provided some of the best construction skills training in the UK. The range of its work is not delivered by any other commercial or public sector provider and hundreds of thousands of our colleagues (from apprentices to graduates to managers) have benefited. With the size of its site, the college is ideally located to provide the range of training that the industry needs to plug the skills shortages.

However, its residential facilities desperately need modernisation. The college’s proposals to improve the college are in line with government plans. Yet uncertainty stills hangs in the air. The future of the college is now in the hands of the same government that want the homes, hospitals and Olympic venues built over the coming years.

If we don’t impress upon the government the need for the college to have a sustainable future, then we might find it more difficult to have a sustainable future ourselves.

Peter Andrews, chairman, Civil Engineering Contractors Association; Rosemary Beales, director, Civil Engineering Contractors Association; Colin Carr, regional industrial organiser, T&G; Mike Fisher, Fisher Associates; Peter Henman, chairman, T&E Neville; Robin James, director, NASC; WA Jenkins, director, Flat Roofing Alliance; Joe Johnson, director of training, Civil Engineering Contractors Association; David Mosley, manager, Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme; Suzannah Nichol, NSCC; Stephen Ratcliffe, chief executive, Construction Confederation; Richard Root, head of learning and development, Amec; June Turney managing director, Central (High Rise) ; Terry Wolfe, president, Contract Flooring Association; Edward Woods, director of health, safety and environment, George Wimpey